Search Results for: Robert%20Firestone

Sex and Love in Intimate Relationships

Robert W. Firestone, Ph.D., Lisa Firestone, Ph.D. and Joyce Catlett, M.A. – Sexuality can be one of the most fulfilling pleasures in life. Yet it is an aspect of relationships that is complex and sometimes fraught with difficulty. Given the mixed messages about sexuality that exist in our culture, it is hardly surprising that people encounter difficulties in achieving intimacy. Indeed, they have considerable difficulty in communicating and workin…

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The Fear of Intimacy

Robert W. Firestone, Ph.D. and Joyce Catlett, M.A. – The authors of this book bring almost 40 years of clinical experience to bear in challenging the usual ways of thinking about couples and families. They argue that relationships fail not for the commonly cited reasons, but because psychological defenses formed in childhood act as a barrier to closeness in adulthood. While many people may not recognize their relationship concerns as the result o…

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Suicide and the Critical Inner Voice

Robert W. Firestone, Ph.D. – Risk Assessment Treatment and Case Management – This book helps develop an understanding of how one begins a downward spiral of negative internal conversations; professionals can better assess risk and design treatment for depressed and suicidal patients. In the United States, every 17 minutes a person acts on the resolve to terminate his or her existence.” Thus begins Robert W. Firestone’s exploration into the depths…

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love and deception

Overcoming the Real Pain of Break Ups, Affairs and Rejections

…apist, I have often observed what my father, psychologist and theorist Dr. Robert W. Firestone, refers to as the “critical inner voice” to be the chief culprit in making break ups and affairs a matter of humiliation. While one would never think badly of a friend (or film star) who had been hurt by a significant other, rarely do people maintain the same standards for themselves. Instead, when they are hurt, they start to have harsh attacking though…

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Improve Your Mood Instantly

…of thoughts, antithetical toward self and cynical toward others, which Dr. Robert Firestone refers to as the “critical inner voice.” I was left wondering when the subjects in the study were daydreaming, were they in fact absorbed in thoughts and “voices” that represented their anti-self? The critical inner voice undermines the ability to interpret events realistically, triggers negative moods, and sabotages the pursuit of satisfaction and joy in l…

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relationship fix

The Key to Healthy Relationships: It’s All in Your Head

…ay tell us we are deficient. Voice Therapy is a technique developed by Dr. Robert Firestone that encourages people to identify and combat this Critical Inner Voice. Whether it is telling us that we are stupid to trust anyone or that we are simply unlovable, the Critical Inner Voice is at the core of many of our relationship woes. By being more attentive to our thoughts and emotions (including the Critical Inner Voice), we are better able to be att…

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Mindsight: The Unexpected Value of Getting to Know Yourself

…nd-guessing thoughts we all live with are what psychologist and author Dr. Robert Firestone refers to as the Critical Inner Voice. The Critical Inner Voice is created from experiences we had as children that caused us to turn against ourselves and develop negative self-perceptions. When left unchallenged, this inner critic can dictate our lives. A perfect illustration of this takes place in the classic film “Annie Hall.” When a young couple (Annie…

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The Over-Parenting Syndrome

…es because they (the parents) feel connected to them through a process Dr. Robert Firestone calls the fantasy bond. In this imagined connection with their children, parents partly relieve their own fears of aloneness, separation, and death – the ultimate separation. In their minds, they feel merged with their children, while in reality, they may not be fully present in their interactions with them. These parents cherish the feeling of being needed…

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Combating Destructive Thought Processes

Robert W. Firestone, Ph.D. – What keeps people from living in ways that satisfy their individual needs and priorities? In this book, clinical psychologist Robert W. Firestone sets forth his theory of the “critical inner voice,” a self-critical point of view that people have internalized based on hurtful life experiences. During a person’s most vulnerable state of childhood, the pressures of society and destructive interactions within the family c…

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The Self Under Siege: A Therapeutic Model for Differentiation

by Robert W. Firestone, Ph.D., Lisa Firestone, Ph.D. Joyce Catlett, M.A. How much of our identity or ‘self’ is truly representative of our own wants, needs, and goals in life and how much does it reflect the desires and priorities of someone else? Are we following our own destiny or are we unconsciously repeating the lives of our parents, living according to their values, ideals, and beliefs? In this thought-provoking book, noted clinical psychol…

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